Editorial: ISIS too dangerous for U.S. to ignore

Published: Thursday, August 28, 2014 at 07:36 PM.

Ever since the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) appeared with its pompous moniker, U.S. policy seemed predicated on pretending the terrorist organization didn’t exist or, at the very least, didn’t matter. To recognize the threat it posed would require President Barack Obama’s administration to again become engaged in the Iraqi theater that it abandoned in 2011.

The problem is that it does exist and very much does matter. When that fact could no longer be ignored, Obama ordered air strikes that have, for now, stymied its advance on strategically important targets held by northern Iraq’s Kurds.

The air strikes led to the latest act that lets us know exactly how vicious these people are. ISIS terrorists beheaded American photo journalist James Foley, who had been missing since he was abducted two years ago.

Many Americans were shocked by what they saw. What they must realize is that this has been happening on a much grander scale for months.

Occupying territory in parts of Syria and Iraq, the terrorist organization is so extreme that al-Qaida distanced itself from them. ISIS has brought with it a reign of terror. Infidels — anyone who doesn’t adhere to its brand of Islam — have been rounded up and exterminated.

ISIS likely could have been stopped with the appropriate response in Syria. Reluctance to aid rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad created a power vacuum. As has so often happened in that region, the very worst elements stepped in and filled the vacuum.

America might be war weary. The president might have promised that he would remove American troops from Iraq and not come back. None of that matters anymore.

Ever since the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) appeared with its pompous moniker, U.S. policy seemed predicated on pretending the terrorist organization didn’t exist or, at the very least, didn’t matter. To recognize the threat it posed would require President Barack Obama’s administration to again become engaged in the Iraqi theater that it abandoned in 2011.

The problem is that it does exist and very much does matter. When that fact could no longer be ignored, Obama ordered air strikes that have, for now, stymied its advance on strategically important targets held by northern Iraq’s Kurds.

The air strikes led to the latest act that lets us know exactly how vicious these people are. ISIS terrorists beheaded American photo journalist James Foley, who had been missing since he was abducted two years ago.

Many Americans were shocked by what they saw. What they must realize is that this has been happening on a much grander scale for months.

Occupying territory in parts of Syria and Iraq, the terrorist organization is so extreme that al-Qaida distanced itself from them. ISIS has brought with it a reign of terror. Infidels — anyone who doesn’t adhere to its brand of Islam — have been rounded up and exterminated.

ISIS likely could have been stopped with the appropriate response in Syria. Reluctance to aid rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad created a power vacuum. As has so often happened in that region, the very worst elements stepped in and filled the vacuum.

America might be war weary. The president might have promised that he would remove American troops from Iraq and not come back. None of that matters anymore.

Obama entered office with the naive belief that a change in attitude was all that was required for the fresh start that would lead to peace in the Middle East. That belief has merely been interpreted by extremists as weakness and lack of resolve on America’s part.

The U.S. must now be prepared to assume leadership of a coalition that will destroy ISIS. It is far too dangerous to ignore.

This editorial first appeared in the Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News, a Halifax Media Group newspaper.